Communication inversion for online communities

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for communication inversion for online communities are disclosed. In embodiments, a computer-implemented method comprises: detecting, by a computing device, that an online community has a low vitality; determining, by the computing device and based on the detecting that the online community has a low vitality, a related community is associated with the online community; detecting, by the computing device, a participant communication within the related community; and redirecting, by the computing device, the participant communication to the online community.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to online communities and, moreparticularly, to communication inversion for online communities.

Online social network communities are gathering places for people todiscuss topics of mutual interest to members of a particular group. Suchonline communities are often used within businesses to facilitate andencourage employee communication regarding a particular subject or groupof subjects. For example, a company may have a Software Developersonline community organized around the general topic of softwaredevelopment, and may have a related community for Commercial SoftwareDevelopers organized around the topic of developing software forcommercial purposes.

In practice, new groups or sub-communities often arise from an originalonline community, and may be focused on topics of interest that overlapwith those of the original online community. The creation of new groupsor sub-communities may lead to short or long term loss of memberactivity or the quality of member activity within the original onlinecommunity. The diminishing vitality of the original online community mayharm the overall quality of discourse within an organization, and canlead to less desirable communication patterns amongst members of theoriginal online community. While solutions have been proposed to assessthe vitality of a particular online community, there are presently noadequate solutions to remediate diminishing vitality within an onlinecommunity.

SUMMARY

In an aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method includes:detecting, by a computing device, that an online community has a lowvitality; determining, by the computing device and based on thedetecting that the online community has a low vitality, a relatedcommunity is associated with the online community; detecting, by thecomputing device, a participant communication within the relatedcommunity; and redirecting, by the computing device, the participantcommunication to the online community.

In another aspect of the invention, there is a computer program productfor communication inversion for online communities. The computer programproduct comprises a computer readable storage medium having programinstructions embodied therewith. The program instructions are executableby a computing device to cause the computing device to: detect that anonline community has a low vitality based on continuous monitoring ofthe online community for parameters indicative of vitality of the onlinecommunity; determine that a related community is associated with theonline community; detect a participant communication within the relatedcommunity; and redirect the participant communication to the onlinecommunity based on a rule in the rules database.

In another aspect of the invention, there is a system for communicationinversion for online communities. The system includes a CPU, a computerreadable memory and a computer readable storage medium associated with acomputing device; program instructions to detect, based on monitoring anonline community of a remote server, that the online community has a lowvitality; program instructions to determine that a related community isassociated with the online community; program instructions to detect aparticipant communication within the related community; and programinstructions to redirect the participant communication to the onlinecommunity. The program instructions are stored on the computer readablestorage medium for execution by the CPU via the computer readablememory.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is described in the detailed description whichfollows, in reference to the noted plurality of drawings by way ofnon-limiting examples of exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 depicts a computing infrastructure according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary environment in accordance with aspects of theinvention.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of steps of a method in accordance with aspectsof the invention.

FIG. 4 depicts a diagram of online communities in accordance with anexemplary scenario of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates generally to online communities and, moreparticularly, to communication inversion for online communities. Inembodiments, the present invention provides a system and method forinverting communication flow between related communities to improve thevitality of a low vitality or low-scoring online community (onlinesocial network). In aspects, the invention detects that a first onlinecommunity has a low vitality, determines if there are any onlinecommunities related to the first online community, and redirects organiccommunications and discovery within any of the related communities tothe first online community. In embodiments, the redirection or inversionof communications and discovery from the related communities to thefirst online community is stopped when the traffic or activity levelwithin the first online community has improved such that it is no longerconsidered to have low vitality. In aspects, the invention maytemporarily invert traffic from the related communities to the firstcommunity, and returns to standard traffic patterns after apredetermined period of time. In embodiments, communications redirectedfrom a related community to the first online community are not postedwithin the related community, thereby preventing duplication of theactivity between the related community and the first online community.In aspects, the invention may invert communications from the relatedcommunity to the first online community only when those communicationsoriginate from a specific member or cohort of the related community. Inembodiments, the invention may redirect specific files, content, searchqueries, or specific file types from the related community to the firstonline community. By way of example, messages linked to a relatedcommunity may be automatically redirected to the first online community.In embodiments, the invention may reorganize relationships of thecommunities (e.g., moves a parent online community to a sub onlinecommunity and vice versa).

In aspects, a system of the present invention may provide survivalanalysis functions, whereby an analysis of an online community may beconducted to determine which principle components of the onlinecommunity are contributing to the low vitality of the online community.With these factors determined, activity alerts can be generated topre-empt declining behavior. Additionally, embodiments of the inventionprovide for the analysis of online community member/user assessments todetermine possible factors contributing to low vitality of the onlinecommunity, such as whether the members are the wrong audience/membersfor a particular topic or if the low vitality is due to the quality orcontent of the online community.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a schematic of an example of a computinginfrastructure is shown. Computing infrastructure 10 is only one exampleof a suitable computing infrastructure and is not intended to suggestany limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of embodiments ofthe invention described herein. Regardless, computing infrastructure 10is capable of being implemented and/or performing any of thefunctionality set forth hereinabove.

In computing infrastructure 10 there is a computer system (or server)12, which is operational with numerous other general purpose or specialpurpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples ofwell-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations thatmay be suitable for use with computer system 12 include, but are notlimited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thinclients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframecomputer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments thatinclude any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

Computer system 12 may be described in the general context of computersystem executable instructions, such as program modules, being executedby a computer system. Generally, program modules may include routines,programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and so on thatperform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.Computer system 12 may be practiced in distributed cloud computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices thatare linked through a communications network. In a distributed cloudcomputing environment, program modules may be located in both local andremote computer system storage media including memory storage devices.

As shown in FIG. 1, computer system 12 in computing infrastructure 10 isshown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The componentsof computer system 12 may include, but are not limited to, one or moreprocessors or processing units (e.g., CPU) 16, a system memory 28, and abus 18 that couples various system components including system memory 28to processor 16.

Bus 18 represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures,including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, anaccelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of avariety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation,such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus,Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, VideoElectronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and PeripheralComponent Interconnects (PCI) bus.

Computer system 12 typically includes a variety of computer systemreadable media. Such media may be any available media that is accessibleby computer system 12, and it includes both volatile and non-volatilemedia, removable and non-removable media.

System memory 28 can include computer system readable media in the formof volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 30 and/or cachememory 32. Computer system 12 may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, storage system 34 can be provided forreading from and writing to a nonremovable, non-volatile magnetic media(not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, amagnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable,non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical diskdrive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile opticaldisk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided.In such instances, each can be connected to bus 18 by one or more datamedia interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below,memory 28 may include at least one program product having a set (e.g.,at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out thefunctions of embodiments of the invention.

Program/utility 40, having a set (at least one) of program modules 42,may be stored in memory 28 by way of example, and not limitation, aswell as an operating system, one or more application programs, otherprogram modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one ormore application programs, other program modules, and program data orsome combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networkingenvironment. Program modules 42 generally carry out the functions and/ormethodologies of embodiments of the invention as described herein.

Computer system 12 may also communicate with one or more externaldevices 14 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 24, etc.;one or more devices that enable a user to interact with computer system12; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enablecomputer system 12 to communicate with one or more other computingdevices. Such communication can occur via Input/Output (I/O) interfaces22. Still yet, computer system 12 can communicate with one or morenetworks such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network(WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) via network adapter20. As depicted, network adapter 20 communicates with the othercomponents of computer system 12 via bus 18. It should be understoodthat although not shown, other hardware and/or software components couldbe used in conjunction with computer system 12. Examples, include, butare not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processingunits, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and dataarchival storage systems, etc.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary environment in accordance with aspects of theinvention. The environment includes a community management server 60connected to a network 55. The community management server 60 maycomprise a computer system 12 of FIG. 1, and may be connected to thenetwork 55 via the network adapter 20 of FIG. 1.

The network 55 may be any suitable communication network or combinationof networks, such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide areanetwork (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet).

The community management server 60 includes a vitality assessment module61, a communication management module 62, a rules database 63, and areporting module 64, which are configured to perform one or more of thefunctions described herein. The vitality assessment module 61, thecommunication management module 62, and the reporting module 64 mayinclude one or more program modules (e.g., program module 42 of FIG. 1)executed by the community management server 60.

In embodiments, the vitality assessment module 61 is configured toassess the vitality of an online community. The term vitality as usedherein refers to aspects of the online community that make the communityeffective or successful, such as the quantity of communications withinthe online community and the quality of the communications. Additionaldetails regarding the manner in which an online community's vitality maybe assessed are described with respect to FIG. 3.

In embodiments, the communication management module 62 is configured todetermine one or more online communities related to a low vitalityonline community, detect organic communications within the one or moreonline communities, and cause the organic communications to beredirected to the low vitality online community. As used herein, theterm organic communication refers to an online community communicationoriginating from a human being. In contrast to an organic communication,an inorganic communication refers to a communication originating with amachine (e.g., a computer or bot-generated communication). Organiccommunications may include files or documents shared by a member of anonline community.

In embodiments, the communication management module 62 manages theredirecting of organic communications based on rules stored in the rulesdatabase 63. In embodiments, the reporting module 64 is configured toobtain information regarding an online community of interest, performassessments regarding the online community, and prepare reports oralerts for one or more users.

Still referring to FIG. 2, the community management server 60 may beconfigured as a special purpose computing device for managing internalsocial networks of a business. For example, the community managementserver 60 may be configured to communicate with a plurality of usercomputer devices represented at 80 and 84 through the network 55.Alternatively, the community management server 60 may be configured as aspecial purpose computing device that is part of a third party providerinfrastructure. For example, the community management server 60 may beconfigured to provide online community management services to one ormore online community servers represented at 90, wherein the onlinecommunity server 90 is connected to a plurality of user computer devices80, 84. The community management server 60 may be configured tocommunicate with plural different user computer devices 80, 84 and/oronline community servers 90 simultaneously, and perform functionsseparately for each user computer device 80, 84 and/or online communityserver 90 independent of the others.

The user computer devices 80 and 84 may each be a general purposecomputing device, such as a desktop computer, laptop computer, tabletcomputer, smartphone, etc., and may include components of the computersystem 12. In embodiments, the user computer devices 80 and 84 includerespective management interface modules 81, 85 facilitatingcommunication between the community management server 60 and users ofthe user computer devices 80, 84.

The online community server 90 may be a special purpose computing deviceconfigured to provide online community services to one or more usercomputer devices 80 and 84 through the network 55. The online communityserver 90 may include components of the computer device 12. The onlinecommunity server 90 may be a third party provider server, such as aserver providing social media communication services to multiple users,or may be an in-house server for a business, providing services toonline communities within the business. In embodiments, the onlinecommunity server 90 includes a management interface module 91 configuredto perform one or more of the functions described herein. The managementinterface module 91 may include one or more program modules (e.g.,program module 42 of FIG. 1) executed by the online community server 90.In embodiments, the management interface module 91 is configured tocommunicate with the community management server 60 to manage the flowof organic communications of users of the online community server 90.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a method in accordance with aspects of theinvention. Steps of the method of FIG. 3 may be performed in theenvironment illustrated in FIG. 2, and are described with reference toelements shown in FIG. 2.

At step 300 the community management server 60 monitors one or moreonline communities for vitality. In aspects, the vitality assessmentmodule 61 of the community management server 60 monitors the vitality ofone or more online communities. In embodiments, the community managementserver 60 obtains information regarding the vitality of an onlinecommunity serviced by the online community server 90 throughcommunications with the management interface module 91 of the onlinecommunity server 90.

In embodiments, the vitality assessment module 61 may conduct any of thefollowing steps to gather vitality data: check an amount of posts,responses or other organic communications within the online community;determine a number of posts or other communications from desired (highranked) members of the online community, a particular group of memberswithin the online community, or a percentage of the online community;evaluate votes (e.g., user questionnaire answers providing qualitativeor quantitative data regarding the online community) from owners of theonline community or members of the online community; evaluate one ormore flags from an owner of the online community or member of thecommunity indicating a problem or concern regarding the vitality of theonline community; and determine that posts or other organiccommunications are not occurring within a predetermined timeframe.Various methods and metrics for evaluating the health or vitality of anonline community may be utilized in conjunction with the presentinvention. Assessment of the vitality of an online community may involvestandard deviations and a set number away from the norm (e.g., 2standard deviations).

At step 301, the community management server 60 detects that the onlinecommunity has a low vitality utilizing data gathered during themonitoring of step 300. In embodiments, the vitality assessment module61 of the community management server 60 determines that an onlinecommunity (hereafter primary online community) has a low vitality (e.g.,one or more vitality parameters are below a predetermined thresholdvalue). The vitality assessment module 61 may utilize rules from therules database 63 to determine that an online community has a lowvitality. The rules can be based on a snapshot of an online community ata given time or a trend of the online community over time. By way ofexample, an administrator may adjust the rules in the rules database 63such that any community having an activity level that declines apredetermined amount over a predetermined period of time will beconsidered a low vitality community.

At step 302, the community management server 60 determines that one ormore online communities are related to the primary online community. Theterm related as used herein refers to online communities that havecommonalities in membership and subject matter. Related communities mayinclude subgroups of a primary online community, for example. Inembodiments, the communication management module 62 determines that oneor more online communities are related to the primary community and areconsidered related communities. In embodiments, the related communitiesare identified by determining an overlap in membership between a relatedcommunity and the primary community. For example, the communicationmanagement module 62 retrieves membership lists from a database of thecommunity management server 60 and determines overlapping membership bycomparing the membership lists.

In embodiments, the related communities are identified by determining anexistence of a sub-community (i.e., a sub-community of the primarycommunity). In aspects, a sub-community is in a close relationship witha primary community (parent community) and is included in the overalldefinition of the primary community. In embodiments, a related communityis determined by the communication management module 62 utilizingreferences that are embedded in the primary community or relatedcommunities. For example, metadata of an online community may includerelationship data that can assist the communication management module 62in determining related communities. Alternatively, Uniform ResourceLocators (URL's) may provide information regarding relationships betweenonline communities. In aspects, updates, messages and/or content withina community is analyzed by the communication management module 62 todetermine if the updates, messages, and/or content include references tothe primary community, or vice versa. In embodiments, references toanother community may be in the form of hashtags, similar content, orlinks to content in the other community. In embodiments, thecommunication management module 62 determines the inverse of a relatedcommunity. For example, a related community may reference the primarycommunity, while the primary community does not reference the relatedcommunity.

In step 303, an organic communication is detected within a relatedcommunity. Various methods may be utilized by the communicationmanagement module 62 to detect the creation of a new communicationwithin the related community. In embodiments, the communicationmanagement module 62 can detect the creation of a new communication bydetecting: push events, wherein content is published to a subscriber,and the subscriber acts on the message (e.g., Gnip™ or complianceapplication program interfaces); pull events, where content iscontinuously or periodically monitored for an updated entry added to amessage list (e.g., Hootsuite™, Twitter Feed, IBM Connections™OpenSocial Activity); and streams of content providing a feed that iscontinuously updated; a user interface (UI) event, where a documentobject model (DOM) event/UI listener activates an update.

In step 304, optionally, a participant is prompted to confirmredirection of the organic communication detected at step 303 to theprimary community. In embodiments, the communication management module62 sends a user (e.g., the author of the organic communication detectedat step 303) a notification through the user computer device 80requesting authorization to redirect the organic communication. Inembodiments, the user can select options utilizing a user interfacescreen to confirm or deny the redirection of the organic communication.

In step 305, confirmation to redirect the communication is received inresponse to the prompting of step 304. In embodiments, the communitymanagement server 60 receives confirmation from the user computer device80 to proceed with redirecting the organic communication. Inembodiments, the confirmation is received when the user selects theoption to confirm redirection of the organic communication utilizing theuser interface screen in accordance with step 304. In embodiments, steps304 and 305 provide for transparent redirecting of communications fromone or more related communities to the primary community.

At step 306, the organic communication is redirected from the relatedcommunity to the primary community. In embodiments, the communicationmanagement module 62 causes the redirecting of the organiccommunication. In embodiments, the communication management module 62establishes a shim in the messaging infrastructure of the relatedcommunity that triggers the redirecting process (e.g., steps 304-306),wherein the shim is activated upon detecting the organic communicationat step 303. As used herein, the term shim refers to a piece of softwarecode in the software of the online community (related community). Inembodiments, the organic communication is altered before beingredirected to the primary community. By way of example, a modifiedorganic communication may include a tag or message indicating theoriginating community (e.g., a hashtag or data identifying the relatedcommunity from which the message was redirected). In embodiments, theorganic communication is a modified organic communication identifyingthe originating related communication and indicating that the organiccommunication will be redirected to the primary community for a periodof time. In embodiments, the organic communication is posted orpublished only within the primary community, such that there is noduplication of posted/published material between the primary communityand the originating related community. In embodiments, the organiccommunication is viewable within both the primary community and theoriginating related community.

In embodiments, the communication management module 62 will honor publicor private online community access control lists associated with theprimary community and/or related communities. For example, the rulesdatabase 63 may include rules prohibiting the redirecting of organiccommunications between a primary community and a related community whenthe primary community includes members not authorized to view allcommunications and/or materials circulated amongst the members of therelated community. In another example, the rules database 63 may includerules enabling the redirecting of organic communications between aprimary community and a related community only when the communicationoriginates with a member with access to both the primary community andthe related community.

Optionally, at step 307, a predetermined rule is met indicating that theredirecting of the organic communication should end. In embodiments, thecommunication management module 62 utilizes rules in the rules database63 to determine when the redirecting of the organic communication shouldend. In embodiments, the organic communication is subject to temporaryredirecting, wherein after a predetermined time period (e.g., specifiedby a rule in the rules database 63), the organic communication revertsback to the originating related community.

At step 308, the community management server 60 ends redirecting of theorganic communications between the one or more related communities andthe primary community. In embodiments, an administrator may manually endredirecting of communications through a user interface of the communitymanagement server 60. In embodiments, the community management server 60ends the redirecting of organic communications based on detecting that apredetermined rule is met in accordance with step 307.

At step 309, the community management server 60 generates a report oralert regarding the vitality of one or more online communities and/orrelated communities. In embodiments, the reporting module 64 analyzesdata collected during the ongoing monitoring in accordance with step300, and generates a survival analysis report indicating whether it islikely that one or more participating online communities will maintain athreshold measure of vitality over a predetermined period of time. Byway of example, the reporting module 64 of the community managementserver 60 may determine that redirecting organic participantcommunications from a related online community to its parent communityhas revitalized the parent community, and that the vitality of theparent community is likely to maintain its vitality, based on monitoringdata gathered by the community management server 60. In embodiments, thecommunity management server 60 generates an alert for a systemadministrator that indicates that the primary community has a lowvitality in accordance with step 301 of FIG. 3. Thereafter, the systemadministrator may configure rules in the rules database 63 to redirectany new organic communications within a related community to the primarycommunity in accordance with steps 302 and 303 of FIG. 3. Moreover, inembodiments, the reporting module 64 may analyze user assessmentsreceived by the community management server 60 to determine possiblefactors contributing to low vitality of an online community, and maygenerate a report accordingly. By way of example, the reporting module64 may send user assessment forms to users through user computer devices80 and 84, and analyze the responses received to determine that themembers of a particular community are the wrong audience for aparticular topic, or that a low vitality rating of a community may bedue to the low quality of content posted in the community as perceivedby the users.

FIG. 4 depicts a diagram of online communities in accordance with anexemplary scenario of the present invention. An illustrative example ofa method of vitality-based communication inversion in accordance withembodiments of the invention will now be discussed with reference toFIG. 3. In this example, users A, B, C, D and E are members of an onlinesocial network. User B creates a community I with users A, B, C, D, andE for Software Developers. User C forms a sub-community II with users Aand B—Software Developers for Client X. Sub-community II becomes a morepopular community with frequent communications between users A, B and C.Users E and D experience a decrease in value from the primary community(community I) due to the related community (sub-community II). Thevitality assessment module 61 monitors the community I in accordancewith step 300 of FIG. 3, and detects that the community I has a lowvitality due to the decrease in postings from users A, B and C over aperiod of 6 months in accordance with step 302 of FIG. 3. The communitymanagement server 60 determines that sub-community II is related tocommunity I, in accordance with step 302 of FIG. 3, and establishes ashim for sub-community II in relation to community I. In this scenario,user C posts an update M1 to sub-community II. The community managementserver 60 detects the organic participant communication M1 within therelated community of sub-community II in accordance with step 303 ofFIG. 3. The communication management module 62 then sends a message touser C, requesting that user C confirm that the update M1 will beredirected from sub-community II to community I in accordance with step304 of FIG. 3. Upon confirmation from user C in accordance with step 305of FIG. 3, the community management server 60 redirects the organicparticipant communication M1 to community I in accordance with step 306of FIG. 3.

In the example of FIG. 4, user A responds to the update M1 of user Cwith response M2, and the community management server 60 releases updateM1 to the Sub-Community II based on a rule in the rules database 63indicating that the update M1 should be released to its originatingcommunity upon receiving a comment thereon from another user, inaccordance with steps 307 and 308.

In embodiments, a service provider, such as a Solution Integrator, couldoffer to perform the processes described herein. In this case, theservice provider can create, maintain, deploy, support, etc., thecomputer infrastructure that performs the process steps of the inventionfor one or more customers. These customers may be, for example, anybusiness that uses online community technology. In return, the serviceprovider can receive payment from the customer(s) under a subscriptionand/or fee agreement and/or the service provider can receive paymentfrom the sale of advertising content to one or more third parties.

In still another embodiment, the invention provides acomputer-implemented method for communication inversion for onlinecommunities. In this case, a computer infrastructure, such as computersystem 12 (FIG. 1), can be provided and one or more systems forperforming the processes of the invention can be obtained (e.g.,created, purchased, used, modified, etc.) and deployed to the computerinfrastructure. To this extent, the deployment of a system can compriseone or more of: (1) installing program code on a computing device, suchas computer system 12 (as shown in FIG. 1), from a computer-readablemedium; (2) adding one or more computing devices to the computerinfrastructure; and (3) incorporating and/or modifying one or moreexisting systems of the computer infrastructure to enable the computerinfrastructure to perform the processes of the invention.

Advantageously, embodiments of the represent an improvement in thetechnology of online communities (e.g., online community server 90) byproviding additional functionality of redirecting electroniccommunications between online communities to address community vitalityconcerns, and by providing reporting functions to assist communityadministrators in managing online communities. In aspects, the presentinvention may provide improvements to this technology by: prohibitingduplication of activity in related communities; inverting communicationsto drive a specific cohort to communicate in a low vitality community;including specific files begin uploaded, existing content, etc. in theredirecting step (step 306 of FIG. 3); and reorganizing the relationshipof communities and move a parent community to sub-communityrelationship. In aspects, the invention may be utilized forparent/sub-community relationships such as wikis, which includebook-type relationships (chapter-section-paragraph), or may be appliedto channels/hashtags on loosely integrated social network messagingsystems.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:detecting, by a computing device, that one or more parameters,indicating a vitality of an online community as a whole, are below apredetermined threshold value, indicating that the online community as awhole has an unacceptable vitality, wherein the online communitycomprises a first group of participants and enables communicationbetween the first group of participants; determining, by the computingdevice and based on the detecting that the online community as a wholehas the unacceptable vitality, an existing related online community isassociated with the online community, wherein the existing relatedonline community comprises a second group of participants and enablescommunication between the second group of participants; detecting, bythe computing device, a creation of a new participant communicationwithin the related online community; redirecting, by the computingdevice, the new participant communication from the related onlinecommunity to the online community based on the determining that theonline community as a whole has the unacceptable vitality; and endingthe redirecting of the participant communication to the onlinecommunity, wherein the computing device automatically ends theredirecting of the participant communication when the computer device nolonger detects that the online community as a whole has the unacceptablevitality.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting that theonline community as a whole has the unacceptable vitality comprises atleast one selected from the group consisting of: determining, by thecomputing device, that an amount of participant communications andparticipant responses within the online community falls below thepredetermined threshold level; determining, by the computing device,that a number of participant communications from a desired subgroup ofthe first group of participants falls below the predetermined thresholdlevel; determining, by the computing device, that votes received fromthe first group of participants of the online community indicate thatthe online community as a whole has the unacceptable vitality;receiving, by the computing device, a flag from an owner of the onlinecommunity indicating that the online community as a whole has theunacceptable vitality; and determining, by the computing device, that aparticipant communication has not been detected within a predeterminedtime period.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: prompting, bythe computing device, a participant to confirm the redirection of theparticipant communication; and receiving, by the computing device, aparticipant confirmation to redirect the participant communication. 4.The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting, by the computingdevice, a response to the participant communication within the onlinecommunity; and releasing, by the computing device, the response to therelated online community.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thedetermining the related online community is associated with the onlinecommunity comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of:retrieving, by the computing device, a list of the first group ofparticipants participating in the online community and a list of thesecond group of participants participating the related online community,and determining, by the computing device, an overlap in the first groupof participants of the online community and the second group ofparticipants of the related online community; determining, by thecomputing device, an existence of a sub-community; detecting, by thecomputing device, that a reference embedded in the online communityindicates a relationship with the related online community; anddetecting, by the computing device, that a reference embedded in therelated online community indicates a relationship with the onlinecommunity.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating anupdate in the related community referencing the participantcommunication.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifyingthat the participant communication is a type of predeterminedcommunication to be redirected prior to the redirecting of theparticipant communication.
 8. A computer program product forcommunication inversion for online communities, the computer programproduct comprising a computer readable storage medium having programinstructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable bya computing device to cause the computing device to: detect that anonline community has an unacceptable vitality based on continuousmonitoring of the online community for parameters indicative of vitalityof the online community, wherein the online community enables onlinecommunication between a first group of participants; determine that anexisting related online community is associated with the onlinecommunity, wherein the existing related online community enables onlinecommunication between a second group of participants; detect aparticipant communication within the related online community; redirectthe participant communication to the online community based on thedetecting that the online community has the unacceptable vitality andbased on a rule in a rules database; and end the redirecting of theparticipant communications from the related online community to theonline community, wherein the computing device automatically ends theredirecting of the participant communications when the computer deviceno longer detects that the online community has the unacceptablevitality.
 9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein theprogram instructions further cause the computing device to perform atleast one selected from the group consisting of: determine that anamount of participant communications and participant responses withinthe online community falls below a predetermined threshold level;determine that a number of participant communications from a desiredsubgroup of the first group of participants falls below a predeterminedthreshold level; determine that votes received from the first group ofparticipants of the online community indicate that the online communityhas the unacceptable vitality; determine that a flag received from anowner of the online community indicates that the online community hasthe unacceptable vitality; and determine that a participantcommunication has not been detected within a predetermined time period.10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the programinstructions further cause the computing device to: identify that theparticipant communication is a type of predetermined communication to beredirected prior to the redirecting of the participant communication.11. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the programinstructions further cause the computing device to: prompt a participantto confirm the redirection of the participant communication; and receivea participant confirmation to redirect the participant communication.12. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the programinstructions further cause the computing device to perform at least oneselected from the group consisting of: retrieve a list of the firstgroup of participants participating in the online community and a listof the second group of participants participating the related onlinecommunity, and determining, by the computing device, an overlap in thefirst group of participants of the online community and the second groupof participants of the related online community; determine an existenceof a sub-community; detect that a reference embedded in the onlinecommunity indicates a relationship with the related online community;and detect that a reference embedded in the related online communityindicates a relationship with the online community.
 13. A system forcommunication inversion for online communities, comprising: a CPU, acomputer readable memory and a computer readable storage mediumassociated with a computing device; program instructions to detect,based on monitoring an online community of a remote server, that theonline community has an unacceptable vitality level based on at leastone vitality parameter meeting a predetermined threshold valueindicating the unacceptable vitality level, wherein the online communityenables online communication between a first group of participants;program instructions to determine that a related online community isassociated with the online community, wherein the related onlinecommunity enables online communication between a second group ofparticipants; program instructions to detect a participant communicationwithin the related online community; program instructions to redirectthe participant communication to the online community based on thedetecting the unacceptable vitality level; and program instructions toautomatically end the redirecting of the participant communication whenthe computer device no longer detects that the online community has theunacceptable vitality.
 14. The system of claim 13, further comprisingprogram instructions to generate a report or alert regarding thevitality of the online community.